Tone Kralj started his artistic pilgrimage on the 23rd August 1900 in Zagorica at Grosuplje. He was introduced in the the art world by his father and Tone’s five years older brother France. When he was barely 17, he was enlisted. After World War I he dedicated himself completely to art and a new style – Expressionism. He studied in Prague and perfected his knowledge in Paris, Venice, Rome and Vienna. During this time he became uomo universale much like the Gothic and Renaissance masters, because he was simultaneously a sculptor, a graphic artist and an expert on architecture. He artistically grew from the Sezession through Expressionism, New Objectivity to the so-called Monumental Realism.

After World War II Kralj became actively involved in our artistic life and took part in numerous exhibitions at home and abroad. After 1970 he took part at a sculpture symposium in Kostanjevica na Krki, where a permanent exhibition of his work was opened in the Božidar Jakac Gallery in 1974. In 1972, he received the Prešeren’s Award. He died at 75, on 9th September 1975 in Ljubljana.

A MURAL PAINTER

Tone Kralj was also a mural painter. He mostly painted the walls of churches. Most churches with his works of art are in the Slovene Littoral. Using his artistic language he made people believe that the good will prevail and wanted to tell them to continue to hope for a just solution. One of his most famous painted churches is located in Svete Višarje (Monte Santo di Lussari) in Italy.

GRAPHIC ARTIST

For Tone Kralj, graphic arts were an area where he could build and exercise his identity, which enabled him to get away from the sponsorship of his brother France.

-A cycle of six graphics titled Life. He stressed that the content ant the form could not be separated. He sought a form that would be suitable for the content. -Titles of some graphics: Suffering Christ, Arrival in Jerusalem, Country Wedding, Harvest, Birth, The Blind, Faust, Jesus Heals the Sick.

In 1926 he put his graphics on exhibition in Venice.

ILLUSTRATOR

He illustrated mostly children’s books:

-Martin Krpan -The Little Thief -The Visoko Chronicles -From the Depths -The Testament -Plebanus Joannes -The Bolgarian Fairytales